SSS Demon King System: The Rise of a Dying Extra-Chapter 46: Siegfried’s Trial. (3)

An intense fog invaded the place. However, this fog didn’t suffocate.

It was calm, serene.

How can fog be serene?

That’s what Sköll wondered while walking. At her feet, the floor created ripples each time she took a step.

It was like water, however, you could walk on top of it.

Sköll kept walking, she could hear a sound guiding her to a place; it was like breathing, from something very large.

It didn’t take long until she found the source of the sound, it was enormous.

It was a black wolf, absurdly large, it reminded Sköll of a mountain.

However, the wolf was tied up, heavy chains sealed its movement, which saddened the girl.

"Sister."

A voice said, it was Hati, was she there too?

"Hati!"

Sköll didn’t hesitate a moment, she ran out and jumped to hug her.

Her sister clumsily returned the hug.

"Free me!"

A thunderous voice resonated, so loud that the foundations of that reality seemed to tremble.

"W-what was that?" Sköll asked scared.

"It’s the divine beast Fenrir, or at least its spirit," Hati explained.

The blonde’s eyes opened wide.

"Fenrir?! B-but that’s impossible..."

The girl turned toward the large wolf, seeing it again, perhaps it could be true.

"Don’t worry about that now, we have to find a way to free it," the sister said.

"But how?"

Hati shrugged, she really had no ideas.

And before they could continue the conversation, Sköll was swallowed by the ground.

"Uwaaaaaaa!" the girl woke up with shortness of breath.

Had it been a dream?

It had seemed so real.

Sköll caught her breath, when she noticed a familiar smell.

"Dad?" The girl realized she was being held by the ankle.

Someone had forcefully woken her up.

Sköll quickly kicked the individual’s hand, rolling on the ground to get away from that person.

It wasn’t the first time someone like her father had tricked her.

However, when Sköll looked at him, her jaw dropped.

It was her father.

Only he wasn’t alive.

"You finally wake up, I suppose I did well to ask your father to help me wake you," a voice said. They were no longer in the temple. "Now, I want to know why more of these useless dogs came to attack, was it some kind of stupid plan? You better talk."

Turning around, with tearful eyes, Sköll saw it: the warriors of her tribe were on the ground, they had been defeated, most seemed to be dead.

A big blow pulled her from her thoughts, she had received a kick in the back that threw her to the ground.

Sköll could feel a foot on her back, applying pressure.

"Did you give your tongue to the dog? Come on, talk," the attacker repeated. The situation had just gotten worse.

* * *

"Shit!" Lloyd hit the wall with frustration.

He had already died twenty-seven times trying to overcome his rival’s Haki.

Every attempt was really useless.

His first death was the worst, he felt so much pain he didn’t even remember to analyze the scenario with his eye.

However, even after analyzing the rival, he obtained nothing useful.

Each attempt had been a failure, as if all his efforts were useless.

"Damn... Is there nothing I can do? I’m not going to die over and over until I lose my sanity, right?"

Lloyd felt his back freeze at the idea he had stated aloud.

"No, I mustn’t be so negative," Lloyd said. After all, if he looked at it with perspective, he hadn’t died "that many" times. "Though I feel my efforts are useless... Wait."

Lloyd’s expression changed when he realized that detail.

Effort, he was trying too hard.

That was the problem.

He was using the sword of the monarch of sloth, the philosophy that sustains this style is based on making the least possible effort.

He was trying to change that, he wanted to use the efficiency of the Sword of Belphegor, but taken to the maximum, trying harder.

However, he was really moving away from the style’s heart.

"Alright, this time is the good one."

Lloyd relaxed, while starting to walk.

Sebastian had told him the right attitude when using this style was: to be relaxed and self-confident.

Lloyd felt he could do it.

He released his Haki, he didn’t force it, he simply let his energy escape through his pores.

That’s where the idea emerged.

Mix Touki and Haki.

The boy’s smile sharpened.

The expelled energy began to vibrate while wrapping him like a fine veil. He imagined creating a superfluid; his intention was to create small vibrations that would cancel the resistance between two surfaces.

Yes, like when a slippery substance cancels friction, but with vibrations.

With confidence, Lloyd crossed the fog while running.

He could feel how the rival’s Haki "slipped" over him.

He had found the key.

"Let the game begin," the boy said.

He activated the swamp of gluttony. Dark hands came out of him catching the target.

Though they seemed like it, it wasn’t darkness, it was an amalgam of everything the mud had consumed; a fusion of organic, inorganic and spiritual matter.

Its strength was capable of holding the temple doors for a few instants.

They wouldn’t be easy to break.

Or so Lloyd thought, however, when his enemy disappeared from his sight, making the hands explode.

He realized he had already died, again.

* * *

"Sebastian! I’m here," a voice said.

The butler turned to see who was speaking.

It was Alice.

"You’re not good at this at all," the butler responded.

Well... obviously, it wasn’t Alice.

"What are you talking about? I took care of the assassins as you ask..."

The girl was cut in half, her pieces falling to the sides, like a broken toy.

"Alice doesn’t even know how to speak," Sebastian massaged the bridge of his nose with his fingers, he was starting to get angry. "Are there really no competent members in the Assassin Guild?"

"That’s a bit rude, for someone who already fell into my trap," a voice then said.

Sebastian could see a man approaching.

He had a checkered wool shirt, with green and orange tones.

His pants and gloves had the same style, matching his beret.

He was a red-haired man, with disheveled hair and an unkempt beard.

He was sitting on a stool, while painting his canvas.

"Wow, you managed to hide from my senses, that’s impressive," Sebastian said. "However, don’t go overboard, it’s clear you’re not in your right mind if you think you can make me fall for some trick."

With a straight back and chest held high, Sebastian reproached the man’s audacity.

But this time it wasn’t about any audacity.

"That’s a good pose."

"What?"

The butler couldn’t continue. Suddenly, he had disappeared, leaving only his handkerchief.

But, the truth is he hadn’t completely disappeared, since now, in the subject’s painting: a man identical to Sebastian was painted.